Pride Month Kicks Off: How the Celebration Began and Where It Will Be Commemorated in 2026

Pride Month has begun across the United States and other countries, with parades and parties in large cities and small towns to celebrate LGBTQ+ individuals. This year's rainbow-filled festivities come as President Donald Trump's administration pushes policies to roll back transgender rights and limit the recognition of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Jordan Braxton, co-chair of USA Prides, an organization of LGBTQ+ Pride groups, notes that events have always been rooted in protest. The first Pride celebrations emerged as a protest following the violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York on June 28, 1969, which sparked public protests and catalyzed the gay rights movement. To commemorate the first anniversary in June 1970, marches were held in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Now, events take place in major cities, suburbs, and small towns worldwide. President Bill Clinton declared June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in the U.S. through an executive order in 1999, a tradition continued by Democratic presidents. Many celebrations now carry a sense of defiance. Pride parades and street fairs lead the celebrations, but there is more to it. Events in San Francisco include a golf tournament and a human rights summit, while the Twin Cities of Minneapolis feature a bar crawl, and Central Alabama Pride in Birmingham hosts a singing competition. This year's major events include Los Angeles on June 14, Chicago on June 20 and 21, San Francisco on June 27, and New York on June 28, with events also taking place in cities like Paris, Rome, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo. Although these events have existed for over 50 years, this year marks only the sixth formal Pride celebration in Haddon Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, with a parade scheduled for Thursday and a community night on Friday. Isis Petrie Williams, president of Haddon Township Pride, stated that 2,000 to 3,000 participants will include local high school bands, youth sports teams, and many people handing out candy. 'We decided to have a radical expression of joy, acceptance, and love, centered on visibility and community connection,' she said. Some policy changes have not been favorable for the LGBTQ+ community. For years, policies across the U.S. generally reflected greater acceptance for LGBTQ+ individuals, such as in June 2015 when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. In recent years, several policies have reversed course. In March, the Supreme Court ruled against a ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children in Colorado, stating it violated free speech protections. During last year's Pride Month, the Supreme Court allowed Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender children to remain in effect. This decade, most Republican-controlled state governments have passed similar restrictions on gender-affirming care, banned transgender women and girls from participating in female sports, and restricted which bathrooms transgender individuals can use in schools and, in some cases, other public places. Trump has signed executive orders to advance some of these same policies at the federal level. One of these policies faced a setback when a court ruled on Monday that the military's ban on transgender soldiers is illegal. Some sponsors have withdrawn from celebrations. Last year, several major corporations stopped funding Pride events. Braxton noted that this year, some investment firms are reducing their support, following the lead of companies like Anheuser-Busch and Walmart, which did the same last year. 'It's all due to Trump's DEI policies. Corporations fear that if they sponsor a Pride event, this administration will subject them to scrutiny, which is completely sad,' she expressed. However, she indicated that at smaller events, local businesses have increased their sponsorships. This has been true for Haddon Township Pride in New Jersey, where Williams said the Coast Guard is the only major national sponsor to have pulled out in recent years, while local hospitals, restaurants, law firms, cafes, and other businesses are contributing.